Three reasons Jose Peseiro should stay as Super Eagles coach amid links with vacant Algeria job

Despite guiding the Super Eagles to a second-place finish at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, the future of coach José Peseiro remains unclear.

The Portuguese tactician has confirmed that his contract with the Nigeria Football Federation ends this month and that informs suggestions that he could be leaving as a free agent in the coming weeks. 

Peseiro won't also be without suitors, having been shortlisted for the vacant position of the Algerian national team coach.

However, the NFF are better off extending the deal of the former Real Madrid coach and avoiding losing him to rivals like Algeria or other countries who might signify in his services.

Below are three reasons why the 63-year-old must be allowed to keep his job.

1. He met and exceeded his expectations at AFCON: Against all odds, Peseiro was able to fulfill his mandate of leading the Super Eagles at least to the semifinal of the AFCON.

Not only did he do that but also exceeded the same by qualifying Nigeria for the final for the first time in 14 years but was denied the continental crown by host nation Ivory Coast.

2. Keeping him will provide stability:  The Super Eagles have had three coaches in the past 3 years which isn't good enough for a side that wants to return to the summit of African football.

With the 2026 World Cup qualifiers and 2025 Africa Cup of Nations set to come later in the year, it is not a good time to let go of Peseiro.

It should be noted that should the NFF decide to bring in a new coach, he will only have the March International break to familiarize himself with the players before the next set of competitive fixtures.

Thus, the more reason why the Portugal-born coach must be kept.

3. Found solution to long-standing goalkeeping crisis: Before the start of AFCON, there was little confidence in the goalkeeping department of the team but Peseiro dared to start a relatively inexperienced Stanley Nwabali ahead of Francis Uzoho and it paid off massively.

While it can be argued that he should have long ditched the Omonia Nicosia goalkeeper, the fact that he was able to garner the courage to ditch him at the start of a major tournament deserves some commendation.

If he could find a solution to the goalkeeping crisis, who says he can't fix the other problems with the team?

Abdulkareem Abdulhamid

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